The new GPU is targeted at desktop replacement gaming laptops, and it will be first found in the MSI GX70 gaming laptop, which starts at $1,100.

The Radeon HD 8970M GPU is powered by AMD's Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, built on a 28nm processor, and sports AMD's Enduro optimised power consumption technology for enhanced battery life. The GPU can power a 4K (four times the full HD resolution) display, or - if you have the ports - up to six traditional displays.

The 8970M GPU combines 1280 stream processors with a clock speed of 850 MHz (or 900 MHz with boost), which gives it a precision computer power of 2.3 TFLOPS. The GPU's memory speed is clocked at 1.2GHz. Basically, the new chip sports the same specs as its 7970M predecessor, but tosses in a new 900MHz clock boost.

While the Radeon 8790M is a beast, it's a beast we largely already know.

Playing with power

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That said, AMD claims the 8970M offers up to 50 percent faster game performance than Nvidia's beefiest mobile GPU - at least in games optimised for Radeon GPUs. If AMD can continue to convince triple-A game makers to ride the Radeon bandwagon, as it's trying to hard to do, this could be the start of something beautiful for the company's GPUs.

The 17.3-inch MSI GX70 Windows 8 laptop will be the first notebook to feature AMD's latest flagship, pairing it with 2GB of graphics VRAM and an AMD Quad-Core A10 series APU. It'll also pack a 1TB 7200rpm hard drive, a Blu-ray and DVD combo drive, an SD card reader, Bluetooth 4.0, five USB ports (two USB 2.0 and three USB 3.0), one VGA port, and one HDMI port.